This is my first attempt at building an HTPC, and I wanted to get some feedback on my proposed build. I based a lot of the build on the SPCR review of the Node 605 and other recommended components.

The machine will serve as both an HTPC and an NAS. On the HTPC side, its primary use will be encoding and playing media; no gaming. On the server side it will run a few applications and host shared volumes for the rest of the household network. Most of the time it will have little load.

Thoughts/Questions:1. Several reviews, including on this site, found the Node 605 to have somewhat limited thermal headroom. However, those tests all had a separate GPU card.2. I won't be doing any gaming, so with thermal performance in mind, I plan to use the onboard GPU.3. Yes, the CPU is overkill for a HTPC. It's still only 77W TDP, same as the i5-3570K (the next processor down with HD 4000 graphics).4. The drive cages support 4 HDD/SSDs. I'd like to use 4 drives for the RAID array and 1 SSD for the system disk. A pickle. However, the case has 7 expansion slots (of which I use 1) and I think this should do the trick: http://www.scythe-usa.com/product/acc/064/slotrafter_detail.html. It also allows for mounting an additional fan. Would adding a fan there help with cooling? I'd probably start without and see how it works. 5. The case has ports for 2 80mm exhaust fans; I could easily add one to improve air flow. Any idea how much that would help, versus added noise?6. My main concerns are noise and adequate cooling. On the noise, I live in the middle of a big city, so ambient noise is never that low. It doesn't need to be silent.

Given your choice of the WD Red, it should still be decently quiet. As long as you keep your fans at less than full speed, assuming the PC is under the TV and you sit say 6' away, you won't hear it as soon as you turn the TV (and/or sound) on.

Yep - you won't need more than 8GB RAM. Be sure to get low profile version to avoid CPU cooler issues.

While you can cram a 125mm tall tower style cooler in the case, Fractal recommends 30mm clearance for top down coolers. So, perhaps the 114mm tall C12P gets starved for air.

Mounting the SSD: No need to get fancy. Find a flat spot near airflow and velcro the SSD to the case. It weighs next to nothing. Heck, if you can find thermal tape, you can use the case as your SSD cooler. If you want to spend more than $1/GB, then Samsung's 840 Pro is a nice alternative. Can't imagine any of your applications needing top tier SSD speed, though. Something like the Samsung 840 is a cheaper/good enough SSD.

Overall, I revised down the raw power of the system a bit, more in line with its intended functions. In particular, I switched to the B75M motherboard and moved down to the i5-3570K. I also dropped from 16GB of RAM to 8 GB (I can always add more if needed). On the other hand, I added the RAID card, as OS X does not provide support for RAID-5.

MikeC was nice enough to sell me the case, PSU, and cooler from SPCR reviews. He was super helpful. The rest of the parts should start arriving next week!

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